Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 8:53 am

When we were at Stonethrow, my daughter said she heard scratching noises in the ceiling of the family room. She said it sounded like something big was living up there and we should not be surprised if we found a big hole there when we got home. Well we got home and never gave it a thought since we never heard anything. Lately I have been hearing a lot of scratching above our bedroom and my home office. Sunday I had seen a mouse take off out of one of the empty dog food bags I had set with the trash. Time for immediate action. I was at home depot yesterday so I picked up a pack of four Victor snap traps. Always my weapon of choice in the fight against rodent crime.

About noon I methodically set those traps as well as another I already had. within an hour, SNAP!! (man those are loud on a concrete floor). Got him, but wait, the rest of the family surely moved in with him. I reset the trap and waited. Well, to clarify, I didn't sit by the trap and wait. I went to the barn and did some work. A couple hours later I went to the garage and, Bingo, there were two more ready to be tossed. I reset those and went on with what I was doing. Just after dinner I found another. WWhen I was locking up for the night I de=cided to make a pass through the garage. Three of those rascals had gone for their last supper. Seven mice within about nine hours, man I was really cleaning house.

This morning I took a stroll out to pick up my morning paper. As I passed through the garage I removed two more from their humble abode. It looks like breakfast didn't set to well with them. It seems we had a whole neighborhood of these beady eyed critters take up residence. I haven't heard any scratching so far today.

Remember, The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 10:52 am

It's getting to be that time of the year when they look for warmer housing. I've noticed my cats are leaving a lot more "presents" for me. Grump

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 10:58 am

Same with me. Presents every day. I didn't appreciate the still-alive rabbit they brought upstairs to me while I was sleeping, and boy a rabbit has a shrill voice when it's been caught. But my 4 cats do OK, they have access to every crawl space, attic, cellar, every part of the barn, etc. Constantly "on patrol". We have actually had rats in this house, more than once, but as long as they're doing their job ...

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 12:35 pm

The mice didn't move across the road from the annex, did they? I'm sure it's warmer on your side of the street.

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:01 pm

Denny, there are some bigger critters living in the annex from the trails I have seen. The mice may have packed their bags and came across the road. I have been working over there a couple hours a week and haven't seen any life yet.

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:14 pm

I did the same thing this week, I set some about 2 weeks ago and the mice were taking the cheese and not setting off the traps, so that gave me the hint they were small ones. Well I went a different route, I got 6 of those sticky traps and it only took me a night to get those 5 critters. I heard them all talking when they got stuck. I use cheese, frito's, and kit-kat bars to catch them. They all work great. My total is about 9 in the last 3 days, 4 in the shop and 5 inside in the kitchen.

That time a year for sure.

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:22 pm

I have about 2 dozen of those Victor traps. I have no clue how they are getting into the house, but I know if there is a pencil sized hole in they will come. Not as dramatic as others, but over the last 2 weeks them Victors have caught 5 mice. One mouse I assume got bit in the butt cause it's head ended up in a trap on the other side of the door. That was weird, never saw that before. Winter is coming and the mice want warmth. I just don't want them in me house Oh yeah, we used to use cheese but that didn't seem to entice the mice. Then we tried peanut butter -- works like a charm.

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:17 pm

Jason (IL) wrote: I use cheese, frito's, and kit-kat bars to catch them.

I wouldn't waste a good Kit-Kat bar on a mouse. That reminds me, I better go check my Halloween stash

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 5:15 pm

We had scratching over the bed room. I thought it too loud for mice. I figured squirrels were getting in the Mushroom fan on the roof. I remover the top, covered it with hardware cloth and replaced the top. Still scratching so I poured two boxes of camphor flakes through the mushroom fan. An hour or so later one of the neighbor kids called me to see the big creatures going out the attic side vent. 2 good sized racoons. I covered the vent with hardware cloth and no more scratching. The camphor really got to them for the were moving in slow motion leaving. We had a little camphor smell for a while but no scratching.

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Wed Oct 31, 2012 8:44 pm

Bill, I should add, they already somehow got into the Halloween candy, and yes it was Kit-Kats. So I broke up all the one they got into for bait. Oh well, got 2 more mice tonight while working, with Kit-Kats on the traps. HaHAHa.

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Fri Nov 09, 2012 3:35 am

A while back I had squirrels in my attic. I found where they had entered by chewing a small hole in the siding. I set a trap on top of a ladder (2nd level) next to the hole baited with peanut butter. That very day I caught a female and hauled her to another location. Reset the trap and got nothing. However 4-5 days later I was doing some work to soffits of the first level and heard something so carefully I opened one to find a baby whose eyes were barely open. It was a male so I kept him in a cat carrier feeding him peanut butter and water until he had hair and was eating nuts, I took the carrier outside, opened it and walked away. Later I checked and he was gone. About dark my cat was restless so I opened the door to see what was up and there was the squirrel. I got the cat carrier and put it down next to the little guy. He went right in and crawled under a rag I had put in with him when small. To make a long story short he became a pet that lived in the wild. I could go out and clap my hands and he would come through the trees and jump down on me looking for nuts. Eventually he became interested in girls I guess and he left, but for about 4 months he was a lot of fun. Drove my cat crazy. He would crawl all over me and my wife but would run from others. He grew up with us petting and playing with him daily.

Re: Scratchin' in the ceiling! SNAP!!!

Fri Nov 09, 2012 8:06 am

regwal wrote:...I found where they had entered by chewing a small hole in the siding...

I'm not so sure I would want to chew a hole in my ceiling to find out where they were coming in.